Jet Fuel from the Ground Up

by Robert M. Gemeroth, Geologist; The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10048, Harry Schmerl, Asst. Chf. Civ. Engr.; The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10048,

Abstract: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has implemented a multi-million dollar clean up effort to remove oil lenses beneath the bulk fuel farms it maintains at three New York area airports. Terrain conductivity surveys, along with monitoring wells and historical records were used to plot the lenses. At the John F. Kennedy International Airport, the fuel is being contained using a slurry wall, whose bottom extends below the level of the fuel, but not into bedrock. As a result, oil is confined, and can be channeled into a passive collection system. Clean groundwater flows beneath the wall. At LaGuardia and Newark International Airports, an active collection system is being used to skim fuel from the groundwater.